The Automotive Sales Council (ASC) held its 64th annual business meeting on Sept. 20 at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare.
The nearly 70 aftermarket executives in attendance heard presentations from a variety of industry and economic experts.
Corey Bartlett, president of Automotive Parts Headquarters (APH) told the story of his firm’s success as well as his view of the aftermarket’s future. For the latest economic report and forecast, Deliotte’s Danny Bachman flew in from Washington, D.C. Following Dr. Bachman, the attendees were treated to a hour full of the latest consumer data from Eamon Kelly, senior analyst and partner at Edgewater Research.
The evening activities included an hour-long networking reception where individual members could catch up on the latest industry happenings and renew old friendships. On Tuesday morning, board elections were held, with five new members elected to the 10-member board of directors.
Newly elected were:
Tim Bruin, Robert Bosch,
- Rob Christy, JohnDow Industries
- Frank Frederick, Walker Products
- Dave Illes, Standard Motor Products
- Brian Norko, NGK Spark Plugs
In a separate board election, Mary Lisle Landhuis was elected to serve as the newest of six officers on the board of directors.
Following the elections, Tuesday’s meeting opened with Greg Johnson, president and CEO of O’Reilly Auto Parts, updating the attendees on the latest at O’Reilly as well as the company’s current perspective of the aftermarket. Nathan Shipley of NPD Group then reviewed the latest aftermarket research with some interesting observations regarding future aftermarket opportunities.
Following a brief break, fall event sponsor, Babcox Media’s VP/Group Publisher, Jim Merle presented the newest approaches to media now being employed by Babcox.
As always, for the last portion of the meeting, individual members in attendance spoke of the current business conditions as seen by their company and customers and offered views of how to grow the aftermarket business.
Sponsors of the event included the Auto Care Association, Babcox Media, Bill Murray Associates, EPICOR & Spuhler Associates.
For more information about the Automotive Sales Council, contact Executive Director Dave Caracci at [email protected].
